SIX

Week Seven: Session 13 - The Joker

"Oh my God!" Doctor Quinzel shrieked, her hand flying up to her mouth in horror.

He leered drunkenly at her from beneath his bruises and swollen face.

"What happened?"

Doctor Quinzel, sweet as honey, sweet as pie. She was really horrified, her big baby blues were all wide and gaping, her attitude one of perfect distress.

"Guess it's what they call quid pro quo, eh Doc?"

"He did it to himself, Doctor Quinzel," Ethan said brusquely. "All to himself." And The Joker thanked him silently. Guilty by your own admission, Ethers. Should've said nothing.

And sure enough, Doctor Quinzel sat up straight in her chair and glared at the guards. "I find it very difficult to believe anyone would do such a thing to themselves, Ethan."

Ethan scowled, turned around to leave, throwing over his shoulder as he did so: "You wouldn't find it so hard to believe if you'd seen what he did to Travers and Jason, Doctor Quinzel." And Joker's heart did a merry leap. And you just drove the nail home. Bravo, Ethan, m'boy!

Doctor Quinzel was staring indignantly after the guards and then she was standing up, heading for the phone set into the wall.

"What are you doing, Doc?" He queried her, internally gleeful over her righteous indignation.

"I'm calling Doctor Arkham. This is completely unacceptable."

"No, don't!" And she paused at the note of panic in his voice. "Don't, Doc. It'll just make it harder for me. He already knows." He felt wonderfully pleased with how genuine he sounded, like he understood what concern felt like.

She whirled around and gasped. "What? He's allowed this to happen?"

Joker shrugged and squinted at her through his swollen eye. "It happens here a lot, Doc. Everyone tends to turn a blind eye. I guess they figure the guards need to work out their frustration somehow. We tend to get under their skin. Heh."

She was outraged, sitting back down in her chair. "That's not acceptable. There's no excuse."

"Well," Joker pointed out gently. "I did kill a couple of their buddies."

"That's another matter. You're not -" And she stopped. Responsible, he added silently. She was such a scream!

She was looking down at the floor, her brow furrowed in thought, a cute little moue on her mouth.

He clucked his tongue. "Didn't you know, Doc? You hadn't heard about it?"

She glanced up at him. "No." She said. "I would never have thought -"

"Asylums have lots of dirty secrets below the surface once you start scratching away. Do they keep a lot from you?"

She started a little and flickered her gaze away and he had his answer. A young intern, with her grades, already seeing him as her patient - they'd be putting her through the hard yards. Ah, human jealousy and human ego, such a delicious combination.

The truth was, the guards had roughed him up a little. Not a lot - they didn't want to be near him for too long and they sure didn't want to incur his wrath - but they'd given him a few kicks. Of course, those thugs knew how to hit so they wouldn't cause bruises. He'd taken care of the rest back in his cell, up against his sink, the plexiglass door, the stone walls. The resulting effect would be enough to melt dear little Doc Quinn's soft and gooshy little heart. As soon as she'd gotten all concerned over his little implications the day after he'd put those guards to rest, he'd seen just how easily compassion could be drawn from her.

And what better way to soften the full impact of bloody murder?

"There was another Doctor, before you." He said quietly, breaking the silence. "Quite idealistic, she was, not as tuned in as you," Heh heh! He could be so bad! "She didn't like the guards' idea of fun either and complained about it long and loudly to good old Doctor Arkham. She didn't last too long. Last I heard, she's doing couples counselling in suburbia."

"They fired her for complaining?" Doctor Quinzel couldn't quite keep the note of shocked indignation from her voice, then quickly recovered herself. "Have you had a doctor attend you?"

"I've been patched all up, Doctor, don't worry your pretty head. Nothing a little antiseptic and a stick of plaster couldn't handle. Humpty, eat your heart out."

"Would you like to finish early today? I imagine you might be in some pain."

Pain. Pain was something he'd become very intimate with. Some days, it was like an old friend come to visit. Other days, he barely noticed it.

"You're so nice, Doc." And he flashed back to their first meeting, almost smiled, then lowered his voice a little, staring down towards his toes. "You're so… different."

He heard her shift. Knew she remembered it too. And it seemed to help her make a decision.

"I'll got to Doctor Arkham if you want me to." She said firmly and he turned to look at her, allowing a touched smile to run up his face.

"Doc, that's so - but no. No I couldn't let you risk your career like that. Not for me. Really, I deserved it."

She pressed her lips together, stared at him earnestly. "That's not the way our system works."

Once it did, he thought to himself, What happened to those good old days? Then again, it's blazed a trail for me to stroll in comfort...

But he said nothing, just wiggled a little, blinked up at the ceiling.

"All right." She said finally. "For now I won't say anything. But please understand that if at any time you need to talk about something, or want to bring an incident to my attention, you should feel completely free to do so."

He grinned at her boyishly. "Thanks, Doc. It feels real good to hear you say that."

He pondered the games he and Doctor Quinzel were playing and wondered if she knew they were playing them. An ambitious little thing like that was never going to risk her career for a stinker like him, but she'd thought it would win his trust to say she would - knowing all the while he would insist that she not. They were playing their parts perfectly, reciting the lines down to the very last word.

Or maybe she didn't know. Maybe she told herself she meant it. Maybe she really believed it.

One of these days he was going to have to peel Doctor Quinzel's crown off and go poking about in that lovely tender brain of hers, and find out.

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